Bordering on Botswana, the North West Province is mostly dry, desolate scrub, although the platinum around the town of Rustenberg means it contains some hugely valuable mines. Over the weekend, the cabinet decided it could no longer tolerate the autocratic rule of the provincial leader, Supra Mahumapelo. He was stripped of his powers for at least the next 180 days. The province will be run from the centre.

For the people of the province, Mahumapelo’s rule has been little short of disastrous. Services of almost every kind have been poor to non-existent. Everything from water to electricity has been in short supply. Public satisfaction has plummeted.

Only one thing gets the attention of ANC: taking to the streets. There were riots in April, with public buildings burnt down and even badly needed clinics attacked. The situation deteriorated so badly that President Ramaphosa decided to cut short his very first Commonwealth Summit in London, to try to restore order.

The president was meant to visit the North West on Monday, to deal with the crisis. Ramaphosa had to cancel the trip, as an even more pressing issue required his immediate attention: political killings in KwaZulu-Natal.

South African politics is increasingly dangerous. Professor Mark Shaw and Kim Thomas of the University of Cape Town have been tracking the murders. Their database recorded just over 1,000 individual cases of assassination or attempted assassination over a period of 16 years.

In his book Hit Men for Hire: Exposing South Africa’s Underworld, Professor Shaw explained the devastating toll murders have taken on the political system: “The system of assassinations is a vicious political cycle: it empowers those whose power comes from the gun, and disempowers those who rely on their standing and capacity for delivery. Unchecked in South Africa, it will undermine the very foundations of the democratic system.”

The violence guarantees political office. With political office comes contracts, and with contracts comes the backhanders that keep leaders in power. It is a cycle that is becoming almost impossible to break. Little wonder that President Ramaphosa is struggling to assert his authority.